


exhausting all options

by poalimal



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, Captain America Sam Wilson, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:48:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22866601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poalimal/pseuds/poalimal
Summary: The things he could do if he just wasn't so tired all the time!
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Sam Wilson
Comments: 2
Kudos: 26





	exhausting all options

His third shift finally over, Sam made a very long to-do list and a very large cup of coffee, with plans to complete both before the weekend set-in properly. He hung his coat, scarf and keys up when he got home, he set his cup down on the coffee table. Then - somewhere between getting his right shoe off and realising his socks mismatched - he fell asleep belly-up on the couch, still dressed in his scrubs. 

The things he could do if he just wasn't so tired all the time! He'd go to art museums, to jazz concerts and garage sales... he'd try out that yoga lark, maybe... hell, maybe he'd even join his neighbour's volleyball vet league.

Exhaustion took all of that time from him.

So he slept through the alien ship landing in the Hudson River; he slept through the stampeding panic of a few million people all trying to get out of Jersey and New York at the same time; he slept through the first few earthquakes and power surges. The world was being remade and he was just too tired.

He awoke with a shiver and a crick in his neck. All was dark out the window - all but the sky, smoggy and violet and dropping down snow. 

An intruder sat without moving on his windowsill, his posture military-grade. Sam held himself very still.

The man said, 'you're awake,' very quietly.

Ah. Bucky. The neighbour in the volleyball vet league, the one who had always seemed so interested in him. Well. Now he understood why, at least. Hell.

'You work for SHIELD,' Sam realised. His mouth was dry; he felt so cold. So stupid. Was the power out everywhere?

'--They called in a favour, Captain,' said Bucky. 'It wasn't personal.'

That summer they had kissed. Sam had been drinking ginger beer, Bucky some cream soda. They'd ordered pizza, waited it out on the taped-off rooftop, burning in the sun and smelling the barbecue drifting up from the lot next-door. A rare bit of a breeze at sunset, the sirens a street or two over: they were up there for _hours_. Didn't feel like it at all. 

Sam had wanted to call and check on the order - Bucky called him impatient. The delivery girl got lost, they later learned; somehow ended up near the airport. Bucky stole Sam's phone in the meantime, kissed him up against the brick wall, then avoided him for a week afterward, popping up in the elevator one night with a sheepish smile and a redhead hanging off his arm.

Message received, Sam had thought.

'Right,' said Sam. 'Of course not.' It wasn't enough that he'd woken up in a world without Riley or Misty, without Sarah or Gideon, without his poor old Ma - it wasn't enough that SHIELD had taken his shield from him and swarmed him with doctors that treated him like a bag of meat - it wasn't enough that he'd had a brand new identity forced on him, that he'd had to sign away his rights to sue for backpay or access to his own estate before he was even allowed out of their custody - they'd had someone spying on him the whole time, playing mind games and pretending to be his friend. 

Nothing personal, right? Naw, it had nothing to do with him, not really. It was just the same old sickness he'd grown up drowning under. And now he was too tired for anger. The future was bright, shiny and new, he kept hearing - but he was too tired for any of it. 

'So,' said Sam, 'what are you doing here now, then?'

Bucky sat up even straighter. 'Sir - six hours ago, a ship of refugees from the alien world Asgard landed in the Hudson River, warning of close pursuit by a being named Thanos. This was closely followed by the President being assassinated by unknown forces, and SHIELD being revealed as a front for HYDRA,' said Bucky. He reached down and held up a very familiar shape. 'And... I dunno, I just thought you might... might need this.'

A pang of bitter longing ran through Sam at the silhouette of his shield, at the sound of it sliding through the air. 'I don't fight for this country anymore,' he said, painfully, sitting up. 'At any rate, I'm out of practice - I wouldn't even know where to begin.'

'That's ok, sir,' said Bucky. 'You don't--'

'And I don't trust you,' Sam said bluntly. 'What, you were working for Nazis this whole time and I'm just supposed to believe you had no clue?'

Bucky didn't say anything for a while. The snow fell down in thick clumps outside. Sam's mind drifted - he almost fell back asleep. Aliens in New York City! Riley sure would've loved the future. It should've been him here - should've been him who survived.

'I did know something was rotten, sir,' Bucky said. 'I just didn't think it was this rotten. And I don't appreciate being lied to.'

'Yea,' Sam said bitterly, 'go figure.'

Bucky paused again. 'For what it's worth, sir--' he said, his voice suddenly soft and summery again.

'It's not worth nothing, chief,' Sam said curtly. 'And you can stow it with that 'sir' nonsense. Instead, why don't you tell me how you're planning on getting us outta here alive? You know, now that you stole one of HYDRA's most valuable assets and put a target on both of our backs?'

'There's always been a target on _your_ back, Sam,' said Bucky. He stood to his feet, holding up the shield again and catching a flicker of light from outside. 'At least you got some cover now.'

**Author's Note:**

> Not sure if this is the first fic I'd ever read with this premise, but queenmab_scherzo's [My Way is Cloudy](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12146847) sticks out vividly as a fic which gave Steve and Bucky's canon storylines to Sam and Riley.


End file.
